Shalom Hospital shut down after death of 7-month-old baby

Shalom Hospital in Machakos Town has been shut down following the death of a seven-month-old baby who passed away after an injection was administered to him at the facility.

Machakos Governor Dr. Alfred Mutua on Monday announced that the county government had withdrawn the hospital’s trading license.

At the same time, Citizen Digital understands that the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Board has also revoked the practicing permit for the facility, which has in the recent past been on the spot for all the wrong reasons.

According to the medical board, the injection administered to the baby was an overdose.

Reports also indicate that the employee, who administered the lethal injection was reportedly not a trained medical practitioner but a patient attendant.

Speaking at the hospital on Monday, Governor Mutua said the hospital’s management had been given until 6pm to clear with the patients.

He also directed the immediate arrest of the hospital’s owner, administrator and staff, noting that cases of negligence at the facility had become rampant.

The child’s mother Juliana Mutheu says she took her son to the hospital on Saturday after the boy scalded his left hand with hot water.

At the hospital, she says a nurse administered an injection and told her to wait for about 20 minutes for it to relieve the pain, before she dressed the wound and allowed them to go home

“He was given an injection to relieve pain and we were told to wait for about twenty minutes. The nurse then washed and dressed the wound. We went home but the child got weak,” said the mother.

The woman says when she called the hospital and alerted them of her son’s condition, the nurse told her weakness was an effect of the drugs but the child would be fine.

When the situation persisted, she took the child back to the hospital and he was admitted to the Emergency Unit where he passed away moments later.

The attendant who administered the lethal injection has since been arrested as police probe circumstances under which the boy died.

The body of the boy was taken to Montezuma Monalisa funeral home in Machakos County.

On Monday, journalists from Machakos County and local residents stormed the hospital demanding its immediate closure.

Last month the hospital was on the spot after a woman delivered on the hospital’s floor in a case of suspected negligence.